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"Fudging". Yep. Background: the XM409 HEAT round (the principle anti-armor round at sub-missile ranges) had a nasty reputation, both for premature detonations and of course like all conventional rounds, bad outcomes when smouldering bits of combustible case remained in the gun tube to detonate...

Glad to know there are those who appreciate it. Some years ago I came into possession of digital copies of many archival documents (that have long since been de-classified). Much of it never intended to see the light of day, it lays out the history of tank development here most especially since...

I can't speak to the anti-armor community, not being sure what that is but the two documents in the Armor community that drove the armament decisions of the '60's were ARCOVE & "Mobility, Firepower & Protection", 1958-59. F&F does not occur once in that or any documents that recently followed...

There really wasn't an issue with the "gun" specifically...it was that existing FCS could not cope well with ranges of 2K and above. Entirely reasonable ranges for European combat, but our hit rate with 105's was not great beyond 1,500 meters (The Army's own figures for first round hit...

Their legacy lives on. Thanks to British and German defense planners, they each designed the major weapon systems on our main battle tanks from the L7 105mm (M68 is U.S. service) and ultimately the Rheinmetall 120mm smoothbore. We have not designed a main gun adopted by our front-line Armor...

;)

No reason to delay. At a minimum, I'd put a patch through my bore in VN every day. Do take care to remove oil from areas that come in contact with the primer. I like to "function check" 1911's after service with a standard wooden pencil with a rubber eraser. The firing pin should throw a pencil...

Speaking of "death rays", when I was on the "Hot Pants" M60A1 track skirt project, we had just finished the Hughes LRF test and still had the vehicle, as well as it's array of "Danger-LASER Light" signs. The idea was floated to stuff some impressive pipe into the cupola, hang the LASER signs on...

Do you recall the year your received the A1 and did you get TTS at the same time? I was on the Hughes LRF Test Project on M551 in '72 (pictured in a post above) & it was indeed a reliable item (unlike the rest of the FCS). We completed the TP in '72 & used the same system on the M60A2 Initial...

Some other interesting armament, this for the Me-262. When it was at Aberdeen, my photo.

Probably the most prescient comment here. While it was adopted concurrently with the escalation, the weight of ammo alone made it desirable. Generally we would have been humping similar load totals (of different stuff), but the ammo loadout netted a higher round count with an M16. In my...

There have been some excellent scholarly papers produced regarding improvised armor from WWII-Korea-Vietnam. In every case the data for is largely anecdotal and the effort not without serious impact on serviceability (weight for the available powerplants and drivetrains). In all three conflicts...

I believe there may be a Fletcher serving now or previously with the Mexican Navy.

The 20mm then in use, by default from an arms trade deal that included Spain, was the Hispano-Suiza model that consisted of some 300 parts & was not something more reliable like an Oerlikon. it was not loved.

FWIW, I was a decorated ACAV commander with G/2/11th ACR in my second campaign. I had the Troop Medic on my car, which was fully fitted out to fight. https://museum.vhpa.org/11thcav/11thcav.shtml Two exposures taken from my ACAV at a halt when X-Ray, our FO, threw a track in some VERY bad...

A meme is not a "reply", but many .45 guys select it for proven performance, availability, a flexibility to load up to 1,100 fps with 185g bullets and the familiarity that comes with over 50 years of personal experience, military & civilian, using the chambering. I don't know any .45 ACP users...

If one is using the handgun for military or LE applications, the mag capacity MIGHT mean something...in DGU scenarios it is meaningless. Almost all examples of DGU are limited to 2-3 rounds. If I felt I might actually need more magazine capacity (like on a road trip), I carry a second mag. If I...

The .45ACP in a strong, M1911* format can be safely handloaded with 185g bullets to velocities within ~200 fps of the 10mm (in .45ACP, 1,050-1,100 fps. That is close enough with a still-heavy bullet to make the 10mm leap one not worth taking. I've verified by a Doppler chronometer that the...

The claim of Israeli Shermans with the 105 being the most powerful is correct only in that it specifies "to have seen action". Numerous "Fireflies" were later purchased by Argentina and seriously up-gunned, up-armored and up-engined to create the "Repotenciados" with license-built 105mm guns...

I believe the point Cedric is trying to make is that there were two distinct "families" of 88mm in German service. The "original" capacity Flak 18/36/37 as seen on the first gen Tiger. The later 8.8 Flak 43 as installed in the Tiger II, Nashorn, and others is a completely different chambering...